Brod v. Sioux Honey Ass'n, Cooperative

895 F. Supp. 2d 972, 2012 WL 3987516, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 129391
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. California
DecidedSeptember 11, 2012
DocketNo. C-12-1322 EMC
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 895 F. Supp. 2d 972 (Brod v. Sioux Honey Ass'n, Cooperative) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Brod v. Sioux Honey Ass'n, Cooperative, 895 F. Supp. 2d 972, 2012 WL 3987516, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 129391 (N.D. Cal. 2012).

Opinion

ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO DISMISS

Docket No. 25.

EDWARD M. CHEN, District Judge.

I. INTRODUCTION

Plaintiff Gregory Brod (“Brod”) filed the instant class action lawsuit against Defendant Sioux Honey Association Cooperative (“Sioux Honey”) alleging that it violated state law by marketing its “Sue Bee Clover Honey” in California as “Honey,” despite the fact that it did not contain pollen. Plaintiff argues that by not containing pollen, Sioux Honey’s product did not meet applicable standards for “Honey” established in California’s Food and Agricultural Code. Brod’s suit asserts causes of action for violation of California’s Consumers Legal Remedies Act and Unfair Competition Law, as well as for breach of implied contract and breach of implied warranty of merchantability. Currently pending before the Court is Sioux Honey’s motion to dismiss. Sioux Honey’s motion argues, among other things, that the Plaintiff and potential class members lack standing to sue based on the facts alleged in the complaint, that claims asserted by Plaintiffs are preempted by federal food and drug laws, and that Plaintiffs causes of action fail to state a claim under Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6).

II. FACTUAL & PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Plaintiff Brod bought a bottle of Sue Bee Clover Honey at a store in San Rafael, California some time before January 12, 2012. Brod Decl. ¶ 3 (Docket No. 1). Pri- or to purchasing the bottle, Brod read the “Clover Honey” label and the “U.S. Grade A Fancy White Pure Honey” representation printed on the front of the bottle. First Amended Complaint (“FAC”) ¶ 8 (Docket No. 19). At some point after his purchase, Brod learned that all the pollen had been filtered out of the bottle of Sue Bee Clover Honey during the manufacturing process. See FAC ¶ 6. He alleges that Sioux Honey’s act of filtering the pollen out of its honey renders its product incapable of meeting California’s Food and Agricultural Code standards for products sold as “honey”; he asserts that California law requires honey to “contain pollen unless the removal of such pollen was unavoidable in the removal of foreign inorganic or organic matter.” FAC ¶ 5 (citing Cal. Food and Agrie. Code § 29413(e)). Had he known that Sioux Honey’s Clover Honey did not comply with California standards, he alleges that “he would not have purchased the Sue Bee Honey.” FAC ¶ 8.

On January 19, 2012, Brod filed a class action lawsuit against Sioux Honey in the Superior Court for the State of California in Marin County. Not. of Removal ¶ 1 (Docket No. 1). Sioux Honey removed the suit to federal district court on March 16, 2012, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1332 on the basis of diversity jurisdiction. Not. of Removal ¶ 4. Brod filed his FAC on April 23, 2012, see Docket No. 19, and a Motion to Relate this case to another one called Ross v. Sioux Honey Association, C-12-1645, [974]*974on April 25, 2012, see Docket No. 20. This Court granted Brod’s Motion to Relate on May 3, 2012. See Docket No. 23.

Brod’s FAC advances the four following causes of action:

(1) That Defendant’s marketing and sale of Sue Bee Clover Honey in California as “honey” violated the California Consumers Legal Remedies Act, Cal. Civ. Code §§ 1750, et. seq., because the product was mislabeled and misrepresented material facts about its quality, characteristics, and ingredients. See FAC ¶¶ 34-40.
(2) That Defendant’s marketing and sale of Sue Bee Clover Honey in California as “honey” violated California Business and Professions Code §§ 17200, et. seq., because the product’s mislabeling constituted an “unlawful, unfair, fraudulent, or deceptive business act or practice.” FAC ¶¶ 45-51.
(3) That Defendant’s marketing and sale of Sue Bee Clover Honey in California as “honey” violated “California’s common law doctrine of breach of implied contract” because Sioux Honey “was not legally entitled to sell its product as ‘honey’ ... in the State of California,” and by doing so it made “material misrepresentations and omissions of fact.” FAC ¶¶ 54-58.
(4) That Defendant’s marketing and sale of Sue Bee Clover Honey in California as “honey” breached California’s implied warranty that goods shall be merchantable. Since Sioux Honey’s product “does not comply with the ordinary standards for such goods, and is not of the accepted standards of quality of such goods,” Defendant breached its implied warranty with purchasers that the honey sold “was fit for ordinary use by consumers, was of accepted standards, and would pass ordinarily and without objection in the trade for such goods.” FAC ¶¶ 61-69.

The FAC seeks as “a permanent injunction or other appropriate equitable relief’ prohibiting Sioux Honey from “marketing its Sue Bee Honey to consumers in the State of California,” and “actual and statutory damages, restitution and punitive damages” as well as “reasonable costs and attorneys’ fees.” FAC at p. 13.

Sioux Honey filed a motion to dismiss arguing, among other things, that the Plaintiff and similarly situated members of the class lack standing to sue under Article III of the U.S. Constitution, that federal food and drug laws preempt all of the Plaintiffs’ state law based causes of action, and that Plaintiffs’ causes of action otherwise fail to state a claim under Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6).

III. DISCUSSION

A. Standing-Legal Standard

Sioux Honey’s motion asks this Court to dismiss Brod’s class action complaint under Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(1) for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. In its motion, Sioux Honey argues that Brod and other similarly situated class members cannot satisfy “the injury-in-fact-requirement of constitutional standing.” Def.’s Motion at p. 3. Under Rule 12(b)(1), a court may dismiss a complaint for lack of subject matter jurisdiction if the plaintiff cannot satisfy the standing requirements set by Article III of the U.S. Constitution. Chandler v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 598 F.3d 1115, 1121-22 (9th Cir.2010). “Because standing ... [pertains] to federal courts’ subject matter jurisdiction, [it is] properly raised in a Rule 12(b)(1) motion to dismiss.” Chandler, 598 F.3d at 1121-22. “A jurisdictional challenge under Rule 12(b)(1) may be made either on the face of the pleadings or by presenting extrinsic evidence.” Warren v. Fox Family Worldwide, Inc., 328 F.3d 1136, 1139 (9th Cir. 2003). Here, Sioux Honey asserts only a [975]*975facial challenge; therefore, the Court must accept all allegations of fact in the complaint as true. See Warren, 328 F.3d at 1139 (citing Zimmerman v. City of Oakland, 255 F.3d 734, 737 (9th Cir.2001)).

1. Article III Standing

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Reese v. Odwalla, Inc.
30 F. Supp. 3d 935 (N.D. California, 2014)
Perea v. Walgreen Co.
939 F. Supp. 2d 1026 (C.D. California, 2013)
Brod v. Sioux Honey Ass'n, Cooperative
927 F. Supp. 2d 811 (N.D. California, 2013)
Regan v. Sioux Honey Ass'n Cooperative
921 F. Supp. 2d 938 (E.D. Wisconsin, 2013)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
895 F. Supp. 2d 972, 2012 WL 3987516, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 129391, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/brod-v-sioux-honey-assn-cooperative-cand-2012.